At the end of Parshas Balak the pasuk says, “Vayar Pinchas” – Pinchas saw and he took a spear. What did he see? Says Rashi, he saw what was going on, that Zimri sinned with a Midyanite woman, and he remembered the halachah. He told Moshe Rabeinu, “I learned from you that if a Yid marries a gentile woman, then kano'im, zealots, kill him”. Moshe Rabeinu replied – “since you remembered the halachah, you should carry it out”. And he did.
What does it mean that Pinchas saw? The Gemara says in Nedorim 32, “Says Rav Ami, it says Avram without a heh and then Avraham with a heh. From here we learn that in the beginning when his name was only Avram, Hashem gave him dominion over 243 limbs. At the end he ruled over all 248 limbs.” We know that a person has 248 aivorim. Avrom is gematria 243 and Avraham is gematria 248. Which 5 were added? 2 eyes, 2 ears and the milah. After he was called Avraham, he was able to rule over these five, too. The Ran explains that originally, Hashem gave permission to Avraham Avinu to rule over those limbs that a person has control over, like the hands and feet. A person has the ability to hold himself back from sinning with these body parts, since we can choose whether to move them or not to move them. We can choose to walk or not to walk, to hit or not to hit. A person can decide if he wants to use these body parts for good things or bad things. However, the eyes and ears of a person are not within his control, because his eyes see automatically and his ears hear automatically. You can't choose to “turn off” the switch and stop seeing or hearing. However, when “Avram” became “Avraham”, Hashem gave him dominion over the eyes and the ears, that he will not see or hear things that are inappropriate. He would only hear and see things that are holy. For when a person has sufficient merit, he will only see and hear good.
The Meor Einayim (Rav Nachum m’Chernoble) in Parshas Chukas writes in the name of the Ba’al Shem Tov that a complete tzaddik who has no “ra” within himself would also not see any “ra” in somebody else. On the other hand, if a person sees a fault in a friend, it means that he himself has a piece of that bad within him. In other words, any fault which you find in somebody else is a mirror image of that same fault inside of you. Therefore, a tzaddik who is pure would not see anything bad in his friend.
The Arugas HaBosem says in Tehilim kapital 119 ois 5 that Dovid HaMelech says many times that in order to awaken someone to do teshuva, Hashem orchestrates that he should see that very fault in his friend. By seeing his friend's sin, it's a message from Heaven that you yourself have to do teshuva on the same thing. Dovid HaMelech davens to Hashem, “If You want to inspire me to do teshuva, instead of me seeing a fault in my friend, allow me to have the inspiration straight from the Torah.” “Haaver einai meirios shav” – remove my eyes from having to see something that is bad; rather, “b’drachecha chayeini” – it should be in the words of Torah, I should “happen to learn” that very inyan that I have to fix.
What we see from the Ran is that it’s possible for a tzaddik to be on a level that he has control over his eyes and ears, to the extent that he will not see anything bad in his fellow Yid and he will only see righteousness. The Chofetz Chaim reached perfection in his shemiras halashon and he merited not to hear lashon hara. That's the madreiga we aim for, to reach such a high level of completion that we shouldn't see or hear anything bad at all. This was the madreiga of Avraham Avinu.
So here we find that a nasi married a gentile woman and the pasuk says that he did it “l'einei Moshe” – in front of the eyes of Moshe. So why didn't he do anything about it? It must be that Moshe Rabbeinu, the greatest navi and ish Elokim, couldn't possibly see bad. Pinchas, too, reached this level where his eyes and ears would only see and hear holy things. But Pinchas DID see the sin since Hashem opened his eyes to see it. Hashem had a special mission for Pinchas, enabling him to defend Hashem's honor and reach greater heights. When Pinchas analyzed and wondered why Hashem was allowing his eyes to behold this terrible thing, he came to the conclusion that Hashem wanted him to be the one to stand up for the honor of Heaven and end the chillul Hashem. That's what Rashi means when he says that Pinchas saw and that led him to remember the halachah, speak to Moshe Rabbeinu about it, and kill the sinners.
The pasuk goes on to say “vayikach romach b'yado” – he took a spear in his hand. The gematria of romach is also 248! This comes to show that Pinchas, too, had complete control over all 248 limbs, including his eyes. His eyes beheld this sin only to lead him to fulfill his mission in defending Hashem's honor. The shevatim didn't realize this and wondered why Pinchas saw the act altogether. So, the pasuk clarifies his yichus, showing how perfectly great Pinchas was, and this “seeing” was orchestrated by Hashem alone in order to allow Pinchas further greatness.
We need siyata d’shmaya to attain control over our limbs. Of course, we must try our best to practice self-control over our eyes and ears, to help ourselves only see and hear the good. And of course, we must daven that Hashem should protect us from having to see bad. (R’ Noach Issac Oelbaum shlita)
